Sakura and Fire
by tokiwashojo
Summary: Soul Society finally makes a move regarding Ichigo's inner Hollow, knowing that Aizen has his eyes set on both the boy and his Hollow. So now Ichigo has to stay in Soul Society, and in the Kuchiki estate. Yaoi ByakuyaxIchigo, standard disclaimers apply
1. Prologue

Prologue : Of Strawberries and Safekeeping

by Nanako

"Kurosaki Ichigo."

Hitsugaya's voice was flat, serious. The shinigami captain gave the taller human a leveled stare even if the former was a good few feet shorter in height than the latter. He had entered Ichigo's room through his open window. And was now standing in the middle of Ichigo's room, his face grim and serious.

On normal occasions, Ichigo would joke and call the shinigami by his first name just to tease him. But when the said shinigami captain showed up in his room, uninvited, with a no nonsense tone to his voice and a tense, if only slight, reiatsu to accompany that tone of voice, Ichigo knew when he had to be treated seriously.

"Hitsugaya Taicho?"

Hitsugaya sighed and crossed his arms. He didn't want to be the bearer of the news, but he had no choice, he was the one whom the captain commander sent. "The captain commander wants you to go back to Soul Society and stay there for some time."

"Eh?!" Ichigo's air of reverence and seriousness disappeared in that instant. No matter how grave Hitsugaya's tone was, what he said brought out too much surprise in the teen. But who could blame him? Twice he had traveled to Soul Society, the first time he was treated as an invader, the second time he was not warmly welcomed. And now they were inviting him to stay there?!

"Why would they want me back there Toushirou? Everytime I step into Soul Society, they want me out as soon as possible. Why would they want me there now?"

A vein throbbed on Hitsugaya's forehead. Ichigo was calling him by his first name again, no respect indeed. "That's Hitsugaya taicho to you Kurosaki…" he muttered. Then, with a serious, yet less annoyed tone, continued, "I was not told of the reason for your transfer, but this was a direct request from the captain commander…it's an order actually. I was explicitly ordered to not take no as an answer."

"So I have no say in this matter?"

Hitsugaya kept his eyes on Ichigo as he replied, "No, I'm afraid not."

Ichigo sighed and sat down on his bed. He propped his elbows on his legs and rested his chin on his palm. "Do I even get any time before I "obey" this order?"

"The captain commander asked that you be in Soul Society by tonight…I don't think that gives you any time."

"Damn that old man," Ichigo muttered. "I'm not even a full shinigami and he orders me around like I am…" He paused shook his head. "No way out of this huh?" He looked at Hitsugaya again. "Any idea how long I'll be staying in Soul Society?"

Hitsugaya shook his head and shrugged. "I don't think they'll keep you there too long. You are still human after all, and keeping you there for too long would have your family here worried sick about you. I don't think that is part of what they have in mind."

"As long as it doesn't make my family worried…" Ichigo stood up and ran his hand through his hair. "But when I get there, I better get my answers or I will make a way to get back here without that old man's permission."

"Then we better get going." Hitsugaya said. "Oh, and we're taking your body along… although your soul will still be separated from it."

"Like I care. Just make sure my body's safe. I want to get this over and done with," Ichigo grumbled, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"Alright then, let's go."

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Soul Society was, without doubt, a beautiful and serene place. Well, sans some of the impoverished areas, that never seemed to improve at all. that made Ichigo wonder if Seireitei was doing anything about those areas.

Everytime Ichigo came back, the air would bring a sort of calm into his being, like a soothing balm on his wild reiatsu and on his person.

This time, however, even the calming atmosphere of Soul Society could not help in soothing his annoyance at the surname he saw at the entrance of his temporary abode in Soul Society.

"Why the hell do I have to stay here?!"

Rukia placed a finger in her ear in an attempt to tune out Ichigo's yelling. And only when he had finished yelling did she remove her finger and replied. "Because this is estate is big and because, of all the squad members of the 13 protection squads I have known you longer."

"And why are you here? I thought you were assigned to deal with the Arrancars in the real world?"

"I was called back for a few days by Ukitake Taicho," Rukia replied with a huff. "At least be happy you're staying here. Imagine staying in a place where you've only known the Captain in battle. Like Zaraki Taicho for example. Besides the order specifically mentioned that you are to stay in a captain's abode, and not of any squad member only."

Ichigo glared at Rukia. "There is no way I am sleeping next to yours… you'll just get back at me now that I'm the one freeloading."

"You're not freeloading. You're here because you have to be." Rukia's tone turned serious and Ichigo was surprised at the sudden change in mood. "You're here in Soul Society for your own safety as well as for the safety of the people around you in the real world…" Rukia kept the sentence hanging, Ichigo knew what she was talking about.

"It's my Hollow huh?" Ichigo asked, running a hand through his short hair and leaning on a wooden foundation just outside a room in the Kuchiki estate. "Soul Society finally paid attention to it…" he added, a small smile on his lips. "I doubted they would let a Hollow with such reiatsu to just roam free in the real world, even if it is within a representative shinigami."

Rukia looked up at Ichigo and offered him a worried look. "Don't worry about it… Soul Society won't do anything to you. They just want you here to keep you safe…"

"…And to keep Aizen from finding me, I know," Ichigo finished for her. "It's not news to me anymore… Ulquiorra keeps on throwing that shit at me, that there is no reason for his "Aizen sama" to find any interest in me, which implies that Aizen does have an interest in me. But whether it is in me or in the Hollow within me that he's interested in, that I do not know yet."

"And neither does Soul Society," Ruka admitted. "That's why they want you here… they want to know why Aizen wants you… and to observe the status of the Hollow within you. They want to keep you away from Aizen, because he will kill anyone around you without a second thought just to get to you." Rukia smiled and placed her hand on Ichigo's shoulder. "As long as you're here, your family and friends will be safe."

"And I will be closely monitored, I suppose." Ichigo let out a huff and returned Rukia's smile. "As long as the others remain safe, and as long as I don't stay here too long that will make my family worry, then I'll stay here."

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Author's Note

I apologize in advance for the shortness. This is a repost, I had to fix the little errors I saw when I was rereading it.

Also, you would notice that the prologue is dialogue heavy. It was intended to be not too descriptive because I wanted to keep it short. So I focused on the dialogue

Don't worry, the next chapters would be more descriptive and are

self-reflection/contemplation heavy


	2. Chapter 1

(Author's note: Sorry to my readers for the terribly long hiatus.... I was held up with college and work,... and my muse left me. I hope it's back to stay now.)

*Standard disclaimers apply. I do not own Bleach or any of its characters.

Chapter 1

Ichigo opened groggy eyes and a knuckle automatically found its way over his eye. It was a natural reflex when natural light came into contact with his eyes. In his room back in the real world, there was no problem of natural light since he closed the blinds on his windows every night before dozing off. But now, in the Kuchiki residence, natural light flowed into his temporary room as freely and as abundantly as spirit particles in Soul Society.

He groaned and focused his eyes on the ceiling above him. He was too unused to waking up with sunlight flooding the room. The room itself was simple, made of wood. It had a desk and a| mirror, a little cabinet, and a little lamp on the desk. But that was it. It was sparsely furnished and Ichigo deduced that the room was previously unused until he came to live with the Kuchiki's.

Rukia never mentioned other family members aside from Byakuya. And again, Ichigo deduced that the whole estate was home to only the two of them – Rukia and Byakuya. If so, then all the other rooms in the huge estate were unused, and there would be no reason to furnish them since no one would use them anyway.

It was still too early in the morning to get up. At least that was what he thought, judging from the sunlight streaming in his room. There were no clocks in his room, and he seriously doubted that there were any in Soul Society at all. Ichigo shifted on his futon and let his mind wander.

He became a shinigami for what purpose? It was so he could protect his family, wasn't it? And he was protecting his family now that he was staying away from them. He missed them terribly. Going to Soul Society the previous times were no different. He went there twice to offer his help, the help his naturally strong reiatsu could afford. He went there with a resignation that, powerful as he might be, there was a small risk, a small chance that he might not make it back out of Soul Society. The thought of not being able to go back, of not being able to see his family again, scared him. Thus he did not focus on these thoughts, and directed his focus on getting stronger.

His life had been changed the moment he helped Rukia. He had resigned himself to the fact that his life would no longer be the same. True, he would still see the same spirits he had been seeing since his childhood. But this time, he was capable of doing something to help them. Helping Rukia made him unable to turn a blind eye to events that no ordinary human person would ever know of. Events like Hollow attacks, Bounto uprising, and the like, are events that people don't even know existed. But Ichigo did, and he could not ignore them.

Ever since, he had his reiatsu to support him. Of course he had his friends to support him too. But that was a different case. They supported him, but they also needed some looking after. One could not ignore a friend if the latter is in a pinch. But, when one is backed against a wall, the only thing one could depend on is one's reiatsu. But now, it was what had him worried.

Reiatsu is power in the spiritual realm. If it gave Ichigo the power to become even stronger, then it followed that this same power would be under the control of the Hollow within Ichigo should it achieve full control of Ichigo's body. And the damage it was capable of inflicting was… unimaginable.

Ichigo ran his hand through his unruly hair and sighed. His eyes had now adjusted to the sunlight streaming into his room.

Soul Society knew the damage his inner Hollow could afflict. Thus the reason why the order specifically stated that he was to stay with a squad captain. His stay in Soul Society now was no different from the other times. He went there so the real world would remain safe. He went there to keep his family safe. He went there to try to maintain the order of things in the real world. His inner Hollow was a threat to all these, especially to his family and friends, because they were the people most proximate to him.

He was keeping them safe by staying away from them.

Again, another sigh. And this time, Ichigo sat up on his futon.

This time around, however, he had to coexist with the souls in Soul Society. The first time, he was a ryoka, an intruder. The second time, he was there on short notice, to offer his help, uninvited. Both times, he did not need to do anything to try and coexist with the others. Coexisting implied a certain respect to ranks, unless Ichigo intended to go back to the real world with his head missing. He could ignore the rules of Soul Society before because he went there without any reason to follow the rules. This time, staying there could not undermine the respect for ranks. He went there uninvited before, now he had to STAY and LIVE there. True, he could, at any time, defeat most of the current captains of the 13 protection squads. But Soul Society was a place that was totally governed by rules. If he was to stay there, he had to follow those rules, and it didn't matter if he wanted to or not.

This time, Ichigo stood up from his bed. Mumbling a little at the slightly cool wind that was starting to blow into his room, he carefully folded the sheets. When that was done, he carefully adjusted the yukata he was wearing at the moment, and exited the room.

As soon as he passed the doors, the beautiful scenery of lush gardens greeted Ichigo's eyes. He was unable to see them when he arrived because it was too dark in the night to make out the plants decorating the garden. It reminded him of a garden he saw once when he went to a Shinto temple somewhere as a kid, a garden that was used for meditation.

The garden was not extravagant. Yet it afforded a certain calm to whoever was gazing at it.

"Kurosaki Ichigo."

The smooth baritone delicately pierced the calm surrounding Ichigo at that moment. He had heard that voice a few times in his two previous stays in Soul Society. And it was a voice that never failed to insult him or tell him that this was not his place.

Kuchiki Byakuya.

Rukia's adoptive brother, and a royal pain in the ass.

And this Byakuya was still in his white yukata, similar to what Ichigo had on. Great…he had just gotten up from bed. And almost everyone Ichigo knew was bitchy in the morning. What perfect timing.

Ichigo took a step back and turned to look at the taicho of the 6th squad, Renji's captain. Byakuya was looking at him with a steady gaze. Ichigo paused, and remembered the resolve he had made that morning before getting up from bed. He bowed slightly and muttered, "Kuchiki Taicho."

Byakuya afforded him a slight raise of the eyebrow. But he said nothing as he approached the teenager, his steps taken in long graceful strides.

Ichigo was expecting the same insults to flow from Byakuya's normally pursed lips. So he nearly jumped when he felt the shinigami's hand on his shoulder, and Byakuya's warm reiatsu reaching out to his own. "There is no need to be so formal Kurosaki."

When Byakuya had finished, his hand had left Ichigo's shoulder and his reiatsu vanished. Ichigo's eyes had widened and he looked up, gazing directly into Byakuya's. He was too surprised that the usual array of insults did not come his way. And perhaps Byakuya saw that question in his eyes, because he added, "I understand why you must be here, and it must be such a burden to have an inner Hollow within you when you fight them on a day to day basis. Since you are staying here under the captain commander's orders, you should treat this estate as your own, as a guest."

And with that, Byakuya turned around and left, leaving Ichigo with an expression resembling that of a goldfish. That was the most he got out of Byakuya, the latter being such a man of few words. The most words out of Byakuya, and surprise surprise, it was without any insults.

It was only when Byakuya had disappeared from his sight did Ichigo shake out of his surprise and stopped staring at the spot where Byakuya used to stand.

****

Byakuya fastened Zenbonsakura to the strap on his hakama as a servant helped him into his captain's garb. The white overcoat fell neatly on to his shoulders, contrasting sharply with the black fabric of his shinigami uniform.

His eyes were closed, tuned in to the gentle humming of his zanpakutou's reiatsu syncing with his. Zenbonsakura was a little worried because of the presence of Ichigo and Zangetsu, and Byakuya could not blame her. These two were opponents who stood against Zenbonsakura without hesitation and were able to wound Byakuya in the past.

"Onii sama?"

Byakuya opened his eyes. The servant had already left his quarters after helping him into his clothes. Rukia was standing behind him, just a few steps into his room. Kuchicki Rukia, his adoptive little sister, the reason why Ichigo came into Soul Society the first time he did.

"What is it?" he asked. He kept his voice leveled as he turned around to face his sister. He was done with his preparations, so there was no longer any reason to stay in his room. He strode towards his sister, gaze on her, waiting for her answer.

"Onii sama… about Ichigo…"

"What about him?" he asked. Byakuya passed her and stepped out of his room, Rukia following close.

"Will he be coming with us to Seireitei?"

Byakuya did not pause his steps, as he replied, "No, he will be staying here in the estate. The order stated that he is to stay in Soul Society but out of Seireitei until further notice."

"But…"

This time Byakuya paused and looked down at Rukia. "I understand your worry Rukia. But he knows the situation he's in, and he knows how to act accordingly."

"But I…"

"I know you'll be staying in Seireitei more often than me. Your taicho called you back for something urgent didn't he?" When Rukia nodded, Byakuya broke his gaze and continued walking ahead of Rukia. "I know why he was brought here, and I know that it is not easy for him either. I know… the same way I know that you would do anything to protect him. I won't kill him if you're not around Rukia."

Rukia paused, letting Byakuya get on ahead of her. She was surprised. Byakuya understood Ichigo? He actually sounded… concerned when the topic was on the orange haired shinigami. He understood Ichigo the same way he understood Rukia? Like an older brother?

She shook these thoughts from her head when she noticed that Byakuya was already gone. She made haste and followed her brother into seireitei.

****

Rukia had informed him that morning that the order specified that he stayed out of seireitei during his stay in Soul Society until further notice. Since there was no reason to go there in the first place, he decided to stay put and did not challenge the order. So Ichigo had spent the entire day in the Kuchiki estate, reflecting on his current situation and on the status of his inner Hollow.

His inner Hollow was quiet, and there were no signs of activity from it for a few days now. But Ichigo knew not to take it that lightly since it rarely gives any hint that it was going to come out. It always tried to take over his body without any warning.

He sighed and stared at the garden right outside his room. He pulled up the sleeves of the dark blue yukata he was wearing. He had decided not to wear his shinigami uniform, since there was no reason to wear it. It was already night time in Soul Society, with a cool breeze blowing. So Ichigo went out of his room and stared at the garden that brought him so much peace. He was thankful that he was left alone there. He had time to think for himself, and think about his situation. Sure, it was not good to worry about things that were yet to happen, but in his case it was better to worry about his situation at least for a while. He had been going into things head on, without much thinking, with just his will and his spirit dictating what needed to be done.

He ran a hand through his hair and sighed again. Well there was the issue of his inner Hollow, his stay in Soul Society, his family and friends whom he left behind in the real world, and the issue of Byakuya. Why was he acting friendly all of a sudden? Surely it can't be just because of an order? Although, from past encounters, Byakuya had asserted that he was a man who followed rules to no end. He was even willing to let his adoptive sister be killed just because of rules. So it was highly logical for him to "accept" Ichigo's presence in Soul Society because their captain commander ordered his presence there. But, accepting his presence in Soul Society was one thing, to act friendly and brotherly was another.

Indeed, in Ichigo's opinion, Byakuya had acted remotely like a brother when he had spoken to Ichigo earlier. Saying how he understood the representative shinigami's situation and saying that Ichigo should treat his estate as his own as a guest, these were words that Ichigo never dreamed would come out of Byakuya's lips. But he did say those words. And Ichigo somehow felt the sincerity of those words. And what was the deal with his reiatsu?

The only time Ichigo felt Byakuya's reiatsu aimed at him was when they were at each other's throats and swinging their Zanpakutous with the aim of ending the other's life. But this time Byakuya's reiatsu felt different.

Ichigo bit his fingernail, lost in thought. What had made Byakuya reach out with his reiatsu that way? Surely it wasn't because of an order, was it? If so… then why?

Was it Soul Society's way of using reiatsu to suppress his inner Hollow?

Then Ichigo stopped biting his nail and ruffled his already wild hair. "Argh! Too much thinking," he muttered into the silent night air. Maybe he was reading too much into things. Maybe it really was because of an order. Besides, he should just be content that the normally stoic captain was not aiming to kill him this time. Because, even if he did triumph against him in the past, Byakuya was, he had to admit, a really formidable enemy.

"Kurosaki san?"

Ichigo nearly jumped up. He was so deep in thought that he failed to sense the arrival of a servant. "Yeah? What is it?" he asked as he turned around to face the servant.

The blond haired servant had his head bowed down, his eyes not meeting Ichigo's. "It is time for dinner Kurosaki san. Byakuya sama and Rukia sama have both arrived safely from Seireitei, and will be joining you for dinner shortly."

"I see…" Ichigo stood up and dusted his yukata. He was about to make his way to his room and check on Zangetsu before going to dinner, but paused when he noticed that the servant had not moved from his position.

"Eh…why are you still here?"

"Because I have not been dismissed Kurosaki san."

Ichigo scratched the back of his head and sighed. He waved a dismissive hand and muttered, "I'm not your Byakuya sama, you don't need to ask permission for everything. Go on, go on. Go wherever you want to go, you're dismissed or whatever."

The servant bowed even lower and then stood up. He left without another word.

Ichigo sighed. Were all of Byakuya's servants like that? If so then it seems that he would tire here dealing with those servants more than fighting on the battlefield. He ran his hand through his hair again as he made his way towards his room.

There was Zangetsu, resting against the wooden wall. And as soon as Ichigo touched its hilt, he felt a surge of reiatsu. Ichigo laughed. He had expected this kind of reaction. "Sorry," he murmured to the zanpakutou. "I know how you hate being cooped up. I spent the whole day thinking. Don't worry, I'll make up for it. I'll look for a way for us to get some practice tomorrow." At that, the zanpakutou's reiatsu receded and Ichigo stood up, leaving Zangetsu resting on the wall.

He made his way through the maze-like estate with ease. He used his day there wisely, making sure that he would not make a fool of himself by getting lost inside an insanely huge complex.

The dining room was, as expected, as traditional as the rest of the estate, and it no longer surprised Ichigo. Once he stepped through the door, he immediately felt the light hum of Byakuya's repressed reiatsu beside Rukia's reiatsu which was not as repressed. Byakuya always leaked traces of his reiatsu if he didn't try to repress it hard enough. Rukia, on the other hand, did not as much reiatsu as her brother did, so her reiatsu didn't need to be repressed as much.

He headed inside and flashed a wide smile to the two seated at the square table. "Yo," he said as casually as he could.

Byakuya merely looked up and said nothing.

"Ichigo!" Rukia's face brightened and she got up, pulling Ichigo to sit down beside her, opposite Byakuya. If Byakuya minded him sitting there near his sister, he didn't give out any indication to Ichigo.

"So, how was your first day here?" Rukia asked as Ichigo settled on his seat, and the servants started bringing the food in.

"It was…ok, I guess," Ichigo answered. He wasn't about to tell Rukia that he was starting to become paranoid with regard to his inner Hollow, and that he was suspicious of her older brother's actions. His eyes followed the string of servants who brought their food in one by one. They were traditional Japanese food, served on small dishes fit for an individual's consumption. And again, he was no longer surprised with the similarity of the Kuchiki household with traditional Japan.

Once the servants had all left and all the dinner entrees were placed on the table, Ichigo's eyes settled on Byakuya's lithe hands reaching out to grip the porcelain chopsticks placed beside his plate, which wasn't intentional. It was just that, with the servants gone, the first thing his eyes settled on was the only moving thing in front of him. Rukia had stilled and so the movements his eyes caught was that made by Byakuya's hand. And so, it was because of this that he began staring at Byakuya's hand. He watched those nimble fingers lift the chopsticks to get the closest entrée…and watched it as it brought the morsel to Byakuya's mouth. But, it didn't get there.

Byakuya paused, his eyes fixated on something behind Rukia. And this pause jerked Ichigo out of his staring. He followed Byakuya's eyes and saw what distracted Byakuya.

He noticed it before Rukia did, and the younger Kuchiki, upon noticing her brother's diverted attention, looked to her side and saw the hell butterfly flutter into the dining room. She set her chopsticks down immediately and lifted her hand to let the butterfly land.

She kept silent, giving the occasional nod to indicate she understood what it was relaying to her. And as it fluttered away, she fixed her chopsticks on the side of her plate and bowed slightly. "Onii sama, I'm needed at Seireitei, I've been summoned by Ukitake taicho."

Byakuya nodded, and Rukia turned to her side to spare a glance at Ichigo. Then without another word, she shunpo'd away.

When she left, the silence settled once again. And with the awkward silence being broken only by Byakuya's soundless chewing, Ichigo finally touched his chopsticks. It was such an awkward atmosphere surrounding the dining table that Ichigo wished he were someplace else.

But, much to Ichigo's surprise, "Ichigo." Ichigo almost chocked on his rice when he heard the normally quiet Byakuya start a conversation twice in a day. He looked up from his rice and waited for the captain to speak again.

"This may come off as …strange," Byakuya started. Ichigo kept his opinions to himself, and waited for the other to finish. "Considering how much I've fought you off when you tried to rescue my sister in the past….I would like to use this opportunity to thank you for risking your life for her. You were a mere mortal and had no duty to help a shinigami fuku taicho, but you did. And in the process you helped Soul Society. Soul Society is in your debt, I am in your debt as well, for rescuing my sister. Thank you."

Ichigo felt his lips curve to form his trademark smile. The tense atmosphere seemed to have vanished with Byakuya's monologue. That small gesture from Byakuya, those words of thanks, made him see the shinigami captain in a new light. He thought Byakuya was a cold bastard who could care less what happened to his sister, and felt that actions that were not stated in a rulebook were improper. But this simple thank you changed that perception.

He scratched his head and laughed lightly. "No need to thank me, it's what friends do for each other. Besides, Rukia helped save me and my family from a Hollow before, think of it as my way of repaying my debt."

Then silence settled over the dining table again. But it was different this time. The tense atmosphere was no longer there and the silence this time was welcome.

****

Ichigo opened his eyes and shot up from his futon. Again, he wasn't a morning person, but a huge surge of familiar reiatsu effectively brought him off the bed.

It was Byakuya's, and it was at such a close proximity that Ichigo's first instinct was to grab Zangetsu and rush out of his room.

Were they being attacked?

But….it was strange. Normally there would be another reiatsu that would clash with the captain's. This time, however, only Byakuya's reiatsu was at its maximum, it wasn't clashing with any other reiatsu or any other force.

Ichigo frowned as his legs brought him closer to the shinigami captain's reiatsu. What was happening?

He found out a few seconds why when he stopped at the Kuchiki front garden, a huge expanse of land Ichigo could mistake as a field not enclosed in an estate. There was Byakuya, in the middle of the grass field, his reiatsu at full, zanpakuto in hand, and simply standing there, his zenbon sakura blades fluttering about him.

Ichigo stopped, his initial adrenaline fading out as he realized just what had him up and about so early in the morning.

Byakuya was practicing, at full strength.

And Ichigo could not help but stare at the Kuchiki captain's fully released bankai at a distance. He had seen it before, but as the target of the attack. This time, it was as a spectator.

"And just how long do you plan to stand there?"

Ichigo snapped out of his reverie and realized that he was now staring at air. Byakuya had already recalled his bankai and was now standing a few feet away from him.

Byakuya's eyes went down and landed on the zampakuto in Ichigo's hand. "What is that for?" he asked, his voice still the same stoic voice he used all the time.

Ichigo felt a small chuckle escape his lips as he scratched his head with his free hand. "Sorry, thought that there was trouble….I felt your reiatsu flare up so I thought you were fighting someone off. I didn't feel any other reiatsu and I felt that was odd, but I still came anyway."

He laughed again.. But Byakuya did not. And now Ichigo felt stupid for coming here in the first place. Besides if there was anything brewing, Byakuya could handle it on his own, he wasn't a captain class shinigami if he couldn't handle himself.

Byakuya did not laugh but he did extend his hand and pointed his zampakuto towards Ichigo's own. "SInce you're already here, and your reaitsu's leaking all over the place, why don't we burn some of it off?"

Ichigo felt himself smile. Byakuya was not the kind of person who was kind enough to invite him blatantly. But those words were good enough for Ichigo. Byakuya was asking him to spar, and it was a rare chance.

"Ah.." he agreed as he brought Zangetsu up and met Byakuya's Zenbonsakura.

This was going to be a good way to pass time.


End file.
